HauntedEarth

Today I visit the chapel of St Stephen`s, at Bures in Suffolk which was built in celebration of St Edmund the Martyr, King of the Angles who was crowned here in the 9th century, and a local `dragon` which actually existed in medieval times terrorising the peasants. The chapel now holds the medieval tombs of the Earls of Oxford and is a rare example of medieval architecture that escaped the purges of Henry VIII. Also, something quite weird from the world of the paranormal that too made its presence known on camera. All in all, a really wonderful place with ancient legends.

An unusual travel documentary of Lavenham in Suffolk. A former wealthy wool merchants town that was preserved into history following the collapse of the wool trade there in the 16th century. My travelogue looks at its history and architecture plus notable events such as movies shot there, famous citizens, and notable paranormal legends.

In this period documentary, we take a fresh look at the unrivalled master of the modern ghost story, M.R.James and his life and beliefs. Did he believe in the paranormal? Shot entirely on location, the show explores the life of M.R.James from his early days in Suffolk to his life as a Cambridge academic and later Provost of Eton. A historical journey presented by Ursula Bielski and Chris Halton. We illustrate aspects of his life in fiction by focussing on two stories both of which were filmed by the BBC: `Whistle and I`ll Come to You` (1968) and `A Warning to the Curious` (1972). And we retrospectively visit the filming locations in East Anglia used as backdrops to both stories. Filmed and directed by Jason Figgis. With Gerry Hughes as the voice of M.R.James.

Sometimes pictures are not all they seem, and sometimes they can lead unsuspecting people to their deaths for power and wealth as this collector discovered to his peril. With homage to the master of the modern ghost story, M.R.James. The accompanying imagery is not charactered precise and uses a series of videos and stills which may or may not pass any resemblance, but importantly, it adds flesh to the story and I hope for that sin I can be forgiven.

This little story tells of the legend of the skull of William Corder, the son of a wealthy squire who had his way with the daughter of a mole catcher at Polstead in the county of Suffolk in the early 19th century. Unfortunately for them both, she became pregnant and so it was necessary to murder her and bury her remains in the Red Barn. As a result, he was found guilty of murder at Bury St Edmund Assizes and hung at Bury Jail whereafter his body was dissected, with his skin used to bind an account of the trial whilst his skeleton was hung at West Suffolk Hospital as a teaching aid. His skull (according to legend) was swapped by a local doctor who kept it in a japanned metal case before being forced to dispose of it for fear of Corder`s ghost who wanted it back ..... My story focuses on what happened after the skull was disposed of, and also on the inevitable consequences that reach from beyond the grave. Are we comfortable? Then let's begin. Note: The story uses random video and images which may or may not have any similarities. These are added purely as a device to add `flesh` to the story, and hopefully to create atmosphere.

Recently, I visited an isolated medieval chapel deep in the Suffolk countryside to shoot some video and photographs of the building for a forthcoming documentary of the history of the site where at one point it was used as a plague hospital. When reviewing the video I found in one frame this weird light anomaly which consists of a hand beckoning finger seemingly summoning in someone or something into a doorway. This was followed shortly afterwards by two light anomalies sweeping through the doorway from the left as though in acknowledgement of the earlier manifestation. The building is nowhere near any roads or vehicular traffic and faces into a steep valley with no obstructions that could explain this event away as a natural incident. The footage is quite compelling as you will see.